Boys Basketball: MW denies Redwood playoff berth

Following a sluggish and sloppy start, and trailing 10-4 to rival Redwood in the first quarter, the Mt. Whitney head coach had seen enough.

The first-year coach called a timeout.

“Coach issued us a challenge during that timeout,” said senior forward Jake Eivins, who finished with a game-high 27 points. “He told us to make sure we dominated the paint and didn't allow any more offensive rebounds. That seem to get us really going tonight and we started to play better basketball after that.”

The Pioneers took Zaino’s words to heart, outscoring the Rangers 19-9 to close out the first half, en route to a 61-47 victory to close out their season.

The win also put an end to any hopes the Rangers had of making the Central Section playoffs in coach Ken Ruby's first year at the helm.

Mt Whitney ended the season at 10-15 overall and 3-9 in the West Yosemite League.

Redwood closed out the year at 12-13 overall and 5-7 in league.

Needing just one win in its final four games to reach the playoffs, Redwood failed on its final attempt.

“It's hard, really hard for the kids,” Ruby said. “They played their hearts out for me this season. They were committed from the opening tip and they fought to the end. It makes it tougher to come up short like this, but in a rivalry game like this, the records always get thrown out and you never know what will happen.”

What happened early was a strong start by the Rangers, as they surged to a 10-4 lead. But just as quickly, they would go cold, struggling to hit from the outside against Mt. Whitney's 2-3 zone defense. Behind a stifling defense, the Pioneers held their crosstown rival scoreless for six minutes in the first half.

“We really wanted to press the action and limit any second-chance opportunities they might have,” Zaino said. “After we called a timeout and regrouped in the first quarter, the kids really responded well and picked up the defense.”

The Pioneers’ defensive effort was aided by the foul trouble of Redwood’s Carter Hill. The junior picked up two early fouls in the first quarter, and then upon re-entering the game in the second quarter, picked up his third with 2:15 to go in the half. That forced one of the team’s top scoring threats to the bench for the rest of the half, and he wouldn’t return to the game until the 1:27 mark of the third quarter.

“It kind of threw us out of our rhythm when Carter got into foul trouble,” Ruby said. “He’s a big part of our team and he was never really able to get into a good flow offensively after that. But I have to give credit to Mt. Whitney for that as well.

“They had a good game plan tonight and they executed it well. We really had a hard time against their zone defense and combined with not being able to control the paint really hurt us tonight.”